Saturday, May 03, 2008

We're headed off to sing

We meet downstairs in 20 minutes to travel to the competition. It's rainy and cool here, but the choir feels (and sounds) good.

Perhaps it is the adrenaline, but I feel great momentum building for our performance.

We had a great rehearsal this afternoon. In that final practice, I shared an insight that I'd gained from this morning's study of music:

There is a thread that unites all our works in this performance - an otherworldliness - a place of mystery - a universality - a sense of awe and anticipation. We'll try to find that special place in the music tonight:

1. Regina coeli: ora pro nobis Deum
2. Nunc dimittis: the sense of awe at the beginning of the work that leads to a glorious AMEN of praise
3. So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ: the peacefulness of sleep
4. With a Lily: "until the universe . . . "

We will work to find that quiet place tonight.

Tonight is a night of many culminating meanings.

A year of work in 12 minutes.
All of our passion and emotion in 12 minutes.
Our eyes and eyebrows in 12 minutes.
An intense period of lightness, joy, and relaxation in 12 minutes.
Our most beautiful sounds . . . in 12 minutes.

Forty-four people will become one voice . . . .

Wish us luck and passion.

plc

4 comments:

Mr. Henry said...

Luck is where preparation meets opportunity...You are immaculately prepared, and this is the opportunity of a lifetime. You don't need us to wish you luck, you already have it. Sing your hearts out and make us all proud, I know you will. Please post how you all thought the performance went, and tell the choir how unbelievably proud I am to have been associated with such great musicians and people.

Anonymous said...

passion was high tonight. I'm sweating in the back row of the balcony listening to the other choirs and thinking wow! It was a mighty 12 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Reading this post brought a smile to my face. To think, in a matter of months, I'll be a part of such an awesome program. I'm excited beyond belief. As said before, you all didnt need luck. If you did what you knew to do, and did your best, you're set. Best wishes :)

Anonymous said...

Compelled and moved to tears, I don't think we could have ended our performance with anything else than the passion found and felt in every face both on and off the stage. Tonight was different...I could sense the tension and the release as we created 12 minutes of magic together in a room filled with both the educated and entertained ear. Regardless of the results, we have made an impact on people we will never see again but who will remember us for a lifetime. When we sat down, people on both sides were just raving about our performance, our command of the stage, and our energy.

The impact didn't stop there though. It affected us as well. We were a unit, a corporate effort, a force. We were a choir...The UAB Concert Choir.

There is so much more to say, but I'll end with this...

Tonight = amazing.

~L